From the course: An Insider's Guide to Today's Music Biz: 6 Marketing and Promotion

Identifying your target

- [Voiceover] What's it going to take to stand out from the crowd in today's music business? The answer to that questions depends a lot on what level of success an artist is looking for. Perhaps you're looking for worldwide success on a huge scale, or maybe you're just trying to build a comfortable niche outside the mainstream of the business. Whether you're thinking big or small, you're going to need great music in either case. That goes without saying. If you're looking to go big time on a global basis, you're going to need that team of experienced and well-connected professionals with an existing infrastructure to address all those key areas of the marketing mix, to manage and execute that worldwide campaign. Let's not overlook the fact that it's going to take lots of money to pay for it all, and you need somebody willing to write that check, with no certainty of success. The cost to market a record in today's music business can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars for a very modest campaign, into the millions for a worldwide campaign for an established, big time artist. In the past, the only folks who could reasonably afford that were major record labels or well-funded indies. For the most part, I think that's still true today, but this new digital world has made it possible, more so than ever, for a clever artist with a clever manager and a clever indie label to find ways to connect with their consumers as well. However, without a big budget and staff, you're going to need to develop a mind over money attitude and be really smart and focused about what you're doing. First, you'll need to figure out what that target is. We talked about in our very first lesson. Are you looking to build a sustainable niche? If that's the case, then you don't need to care about the big time. You'll just need to build and cultivate a loyal fan base. Do you want to compete at the highest levels? If that's the case, some of that marketing and promotion may be like an audition for working with a major label. In that case, your goal is product development. So, when you get to that major label, your image is well-defined, and then they can help spend the money and resources it takes to get to the next level. For indie artists, you'll need to honestly assess what resources you have in terms of money, experience, and expertise, and figure out how to best apply what you have. You'll be the one making the calls, sending the emails, maintaining the website, posting on social media. If you don't have a lot of money, you'll need to make your approach extremely personal and make as many friends as you can that can help you on your way. You'll need a great attitude as well, because you're going to have your work cut out for you and a ton of obstacles to overcome. It's tough, but it's not impossible.

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